Recruitment agency gets national stamp

RECRUITMENT agency, People@Work has recently received Social Traders certification under the first national trademark for the social enterprise sector.

The Social Traders certification was launched last year, giving socially enterprising brands credibility and increasing their chances of being awarded commercial business or government contracts.

People@Work’s Brenden Caligari said the group was very excited about becoming certified, following a thorough audit and verification process.

“The process saw our organisation demonstrate that we are driven by a public or community cause, derive our income from trade, not donations or grants, and use the majority of our profits to work towards our social mission,” he said.

“Our ethos is focussed on matching business with the best people, and when you consider that tens of thousands of people are benefiting from social enterprises across Australia, we can see that it is a significant agent for social change.

“Buying from a social enterprise is one of the easiest and most effective ways of breaking the cycle of disadvantage and strengthening Australian communities.”

The Social Traders initiative hopes to generate 500 jobs for disadvantaged Australians by 2021.

A community of 95 buyer members and 600 certified social enterprise suppliers will be created, facilitating over $100 million in procurement spend.

People@Work is part of the Gforce group.

Social enterprises trade to provide employment access and better the work arena, improving communities.